This invention relates to board game apparatus and more particularly to a new and improved game wherein the players of the game evaluate and assess the relative risks and merits of alternate paths of movement and travel to a desired goal during play of the game.
While the preferred embodiment of the game, "Magna Cum Laude," is basically one of skill and chance, it is based upon typical experiences encountered while attending college and is, therefore, in addition, informative and educational in nature.
Briefly, each player of the game is assigned a playing token which is moved around the board from a starting location. Each traverse around the board corresponds to a college semester. A player graduates after eight semesters, and wins the game if, upon graduation, he has the highest grade point average. A player who has completed eight semesters, but who does not have the highest grade point average, may repeat a semester to improve his grade point average. During the game, the players move their respective tokens along alternate travel paths which have different numbers of movement steps. A manual is provided with special entries indicating bonuses and penalties corresponding to typical college experiences. The bonuses and penalties are divided according to the particular college semester or pair of semesters composing a class year. The particular action taken by the player for each of the bonuses and penalties depends upon the particular one of the alternate travel paths which the player is on at the time. In choosing the particular path of travel, the player must, therefore, evaluate the relative risks and merits associated with the selected path.
A feature of the invention is a two-piece playing token; each player normally traversing the board with one piece of his respective token indicating that the player is in a normal status. The addition of the second portion of the playing token to the first portion indicates a changed status of the player.